Buffalo Sabres Daily Press Clips February 26, 2019 Maple Leafs’ 4-goal 2nd period sinks Sabres 5-3 Associated Press February 25, 2019 TORONTO (AP) — Auston Matthews set a franchise record for the Maple Leafs on Monday night. However his focus is on the rest of Toronto’s season. Matthews scored in a four-goal second period and Toronto downed the Buffalo Sabres 5-3 on Monday night. Matthews’ goal made him the first Maple Leafs player to score 30 or more goals in the first three seasons of his career. “It’s pretty humbling,” said Matthews, who had 40 goals in his rookie season and 34 last season. “Luckily my first years I played with great players on any given night. Guys that can move the puck and make plays. “I just do what I do. I’m kind of a shoot-first guy, try to score, it’s how I’ve always been.” John Tavares, Frederik Gauthier and Tyler Ennis also scored in Toronto’s four-goal second period as the Maple Leafs held on for their second straight win. Kasperi Kapanen added some insurance with a short-handed goal in the third. Toronto general manager Kyle Dubas was fairly quiet on the NHL’s trade deadline Monday afternoon, only sending Par Lindholm to the Winnipeg Jets for Nic Petan in a swap of forwards. Toronto’s big move came on Jan. 29 when it acquired veteran defenseman Jake Muzzin in a trade with the Los Angeles Kings. Matthews felt it was important to get a statement win after the trade deadline had passed and to carry some momentum into the final months of the season. “We have a lot of faith in each other in this locker room,” said Matthews. “Looking around we’ve got a lot of depth and we’ve got a lot of belief in one another. “We’re hitting that point in the year where we’ve got to take another step and really dial it in.” Frederik Andersen made 31 saves for his 100th win for Toronto, the eighth goaltender in franchise history to accomplish the feat, requiring the fewest starts to do it. “I feel good,” said Andersen, who has made seven straight starts. “Just trying to take it one game at a time and get some rest when we do get days off and make sure I recover.” Jack Eichel scored twice for Buffalo, while Sam Reinhart added a goal and an assist. “We had like seven or eight minutes of bad hockey where we let them get behind us, and that was it,” Eichel said. “They had too many odd-man rushes in the second period, and it cost us the game.” Carter Hutton started in net for Buffalo, stopping 9 of 12 shots in 25:52 of work. Linus Ullmark replaced Hutton in net, turning aside 19 of 21 shots. Buffalo also made a deal with Winnipeg on Monday, sending defenseman Nathan Beaulieu to the Jets for a sixth- round pick in the 2019 draft. The Sabres had acquired veteran defenseman Brandon Montour from the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday for blue liner Brendan Guhle and a first-round selection in this summer’s draft. Montour had not joined the team in time for Monday’s game in Toronto. After Eichel opened the scoring with a power-play goal in the final minute of the first period, the Maple Leafs came out flying in the second. Tavares redirected a slap shot from Muzzin past Hutton to tie the game 1-1 at the 3:48 mark of the period, 9 seconds after a Sabres penalty expired. Matthews scored while the announcer was still giving details on Tavares’ goal. The puck deflected off a defender’s skate and right to Matthews’ stick. He made no mistake, swatting it into the net. Gauthier piled on just 28 seconds later, taking a pass with his back to the net and slipping a backhand shot past Hutton. That ended Hutton’s night, with Ullmark coming on in relief. Ennis made it 4-1 a little over seven minutes later on a breakaway. Gauthier assisted on that goal and on his next shift Sabres defenseman Zach Bogosian offered to fight him to complete the Gordie Howe hat trick. “He kind of smiled when he asked me so I smiled back as I said no,” said Gauthier. The Sabres answered with 2:35 left in the second when Reinhart completed a tic-tac-toe passing play while Buffalo held the man advantage. Eichel scored 9 seconds into the third period, cutting Toronto’s lead to 4-3. Matthews took a tripping penalty late in the third, but Kapanen stole the puck on a turnover and put away his 19th goal of the season on a breakaway with 2:18 left in the game. NOTES: Sting was in attendance, receiving a Maple Leafs jersey with his name on it in the first period. ... Several players on the Maple Leafs had rainbow-colored tape on their sticks as part of the team’s You Can Play initiative that is dedicated to the eradication of homophobia in sports. UP NEXT: Sabres: Face the Flyers in Philadelphia on Tuesday night. Maple Leafs: Host Edmonton on Wednesday night. Sabres comeback falls short after second-period collapse in Toronto By Lance Lysowski The Buffalo News February 25, 2019 TORONTO -- A 10-game win streak kept the Buffalo Sabres in contention, and their playoff hopes brightened following remarkable performances against Tampa Bay and Washington last week. However, the Sabres needed only two minutes, four seconds Monday night to show they still have much to correct in order to make a playoff push. That is all the time the Toronto Maple Leafs needed to score three of their four second-period goals in a 5-3 win over Buffalo in Scotiabank Arena. The collapse prevented the Sabres (29-25-8) from winning back-to-back games for the first time since Dec. 13, and they remain six points behind Carolina for the second wild-card playoff spot. "We had seven or eight minutes of bad hockey where we let them get behind us and that was it," lamented Jack Eichel, who scored two goals. Unexpected trade motivates new Sabres defenseman Brandon Montour The Maple Leafs (38-20-4) scored four of their five goals in less than 10 minutes during the second period, including a breakaway by Tyler Ennis for a 4-1 lead, and the last occurred with 2:18 remaining in regulation when Kasperi Kapanen was sprung on a breakaway by a puck ricocheting off an official's skate. Still, the Sabres were the better team for most of the night. They outshot Toronto, 34-33, including 10-1 during the game's first eight minutes, and had several chances to tie the score in the third period. Leafs goalie Frederik Andersen made a split save to stop Jason Pominville's chance from atop the crease midway through the period and used his left leg pad to rob Rasmus Dahlin with 2:43 remaining. Eichel scored his 20th and 21st goals of the season, the latter of which cut the deficit to one goal nine seconds into the third period. Sam Reinhart scored a power-play goal with 2:35 left in the second period to build momentum and make a comeback possible. The Sabres had 19 more shot attempts and one more scoring chance, yet they allowed four or more goals for a fourth consecutive game and have lost six of their last eight games. "I think we have to realize they’re going to have pushes," said Reinhart. "They have some of the best players in the world over there. We need to find a way to calm down and be composed when they do have those pushes. Try to stop the momentum as quick as possible." The Sabres' issue continues to be the quality, not quantity, of scoring chances allowed. Buffalo's blown defensive coverages began at the start of the second period, and John Tavares broke through when he tipped Jake Muzzin's shot over Hutton's glove to tie the score 1-1 at 3:48. Then Auston Matthews shot a puck off Hutton's glove, corraled it, and skated around the back of the net, where he passed toward the slot. The puck bounced off Evan Rodrigues' stick blade and went right back to Matthews, who was left alone to shoot into the open net for his 30th goal of the season. Frederik Gauthier scored the Leafs' third goal in a span of 2:04 when he gathered a pass from Jake Gardiner and outmuscled Johan Larsson in front of the net before beating Hutton with a backhanded shot. "We talked about expecting a push from them," coach Phil Housley said. "But it’s not really what they did, it’s what we didn’t do." Hutton was promptly pulled and replaced by Linus Ullmark, a decision Housley said was to create a "spark" and "send a message." The move did not make much of a difference in the second period. Ullmark had to make a save on a 2-on-1 odd-man rush moments later, followed by another stop on the Leafs' Zach Hyman. Toronto then created a highlight-reel chance with a drop pass to fool Rasmus Ristolainen, though Ullmark managed to use his chest to block the weak wrist shot. "He’s been such a key part of our team this year, so you can’t really blame Hutts for some of the stuff that was happening," Eichel said of Hutton.